The statue, the golden calf, and the stone?

DR. NAAMA GOLAN: The Statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and the Golden Calf (TheTorah.com).

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue made of four metals in Daniel 2 was composed using Persian and Greek historiographic imagery. The crushing of the statue by a stone mountain alludes to the story of the golden calf, and is a message of hope to the Judeans that God will eventually crush their Greek oppressors.

This is a good overview of the historical-thematic background of Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Daniel 2. The part about the stone and the golden calf is new. I am teaching undergraduate course on the Book of Daniel next semester. I will have to think more about this idea.

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What made Alexander so great?

NUMISMATICS: CoinWeek Podcast #140: What Made Alexander Great? (Mike Markowiz).

The headline made me think of this old Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson.

For background on Alexander's connections to ancient Jewish tradition, start here and follow the many links.

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Wordplay in Genesis

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Wordplay in Genesis (Philip D. Stern). With suggested connections with Arabic, Akkadian, and Sumerian.

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New highlights from the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies

THE CSCO BLOG: New entries to the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies. (Matthew Novenson). Dr. Novenson lists the new entries in this post. He gives taster quotes from some of them in the following posts at the same blog:

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Laura Dingeldein on Paul the Letter-Writer

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Cavan Concannon on Archaeology and the Pauline Letters

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Kathy Ehrensperger on Paul and Feminism

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Sudies: Nijay Gupta on pistis Christou in Paul

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Emma Wasserman on Paul and Religion

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Troels Engberg-Pedersen on Paul the Philosopher

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Moodle Midrash and Pandemic Pedagogy

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Moodle Midrash (Daniel Picus).

A few weeks before the class was slated to begin in late March, my institution went entirely remote. This turned my class on its head, and while there’s no need for yet another narrative of how exactly I attempted to transform my class, the remote format and slightly broader scope did combine in order to produce a particularly effective pedagogical activity: the Moodle Midrash.

Pandemic Pedagogy: Pamphlet Final Projects and Laughter (Matthew Chalmers).

Teaching during global pandemic means improvisation. This short article shares my experience of an improvised assignment that worked, how it worked, and what good came out of it: museum-style pamphlets. Take it if you like, adapt it as you will, and let me know what works better when you do.

I am going full online teaching with my classes next year too. I appreciate these essays and others like them, which give out-of-the box ideas for how to proceed.

If we have to do everything differently, we may as well be creative about it.

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Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz z'l'

SAD NEWS: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, noted Talmudic scholar, dies at 83. The rabbi, who is best known for translating the Talmud into modern Hebrew, had been in the hospital with a lung infection since Tuesday (Jeremy Sharon, Jerusalem Post).

For background on Rabbi Steinsaltz and his remarkable work on the Talmud, start here and follow the links. May his memory be for a blessing.

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Comfort in Deutero-Isaiah

PROF. FRANCIS LANDY: The Prologue to Deutero-Isaiah (TheTorah.com).

“Comfort, oh comfort My people,” says your God, נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי יֹאמַר אֱלֹהֵיכֶם. Thus begins the prologue to Deutero-Isaiah (40:1–11), a passage containing four speech fragments haunted by the past but offering a message of comfort and hope.

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Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. A quick skim through some recent issues turned up a number of articles of interest to ancient Judaism and related matters.

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More from McGrath on Gnostic origins

RELIGION PROF: Talk Gnosis: The Origins of Gnosticism. James McGrath links to an episode of Talk Gnosis in which he discusses his views about the origins of Gnosticism.

Background here, also linked to by James above.

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Review of Praying and contemplating in late antiquity (ed. Pachoumi & Edwards)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Praying and contemplating in late antiquity: religious and philosophical interactions

Eleni Pachoumi, Mark J. Edwards, Praying and contemplating in late antiquity: religious and philosophical interactions. Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum, 113. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018. viii, 229 p.. ISBN 9783161561191 €79,00 (pb).

Review by
Mark Roblee, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. mroblee@history.umass.edu

... Proceeding from a 2016 conference organized by editors Eleni Pachoumi and Mark J. Edwards, Praying and Contemplating captures a range of intimate encounters with the divine sought by late antique intellectuals in papers by international (and long-armed) specialists in Neoplatonism, theurgy, early Christianity, and related late antique currents including Orphism, dreams, Chaldean Oracles, initiation, Greek Magical Papyri, divination, and Manichaeism....

It also gives some attention to late-antique Alexandrian Judaism in the article by Bronwen Neil.

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The Qur'an on the direction of prayer

DR. ABDULLA GALADARI: The Quran’s Lesson from the Shema: Direct Your Heart to God (TheTorah.com).

The Quran makes multiple intertextual connections with the Shema and its rabbinic commentary in its qiblah (“direction”) passages, thus highlighting a point of agreement between Jews and Muslims: Prayer is not about the physical direction you face but about loving God with all your heart.

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Woes unto Babylon!

READING ACTS: Three Woes against Babylon – Revelation 18:9-20. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now on the final seven visions. We continue with the second vision in chapter 18.

For notice of previous posts in Phil's series on Revelation, see here and links.

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VR reconstructions of ancient sites

THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING THERE: Ruined Unesco sites virtually rebuilt before your very eyes! From Jerusalem to Iraq, digital wizardry restores renowned cities and temples to their former glory (Jennifer Newton and Ted Thornhill, Daily Mail).

The project includes digital reconstructions of the Temple Mount, Hatra, Leptis Magna, and Palmyra.

For endless PaleoJudaica posts on the Temple Mount, run "Temple Mount" through the blog's search engine.

Hatra was an important Aramaic-speaking city on the Silk Road in late antiquity. The archaeological site in Iraq was bulldozed by ISIS in March of 2015. It was retaken by Iraqi forces during the annihilation of ISIS in 2017. Follow the links (and cf. here) for more posts on Hatra.

Leptis Magna is a Punic site in Libya. There was fear that ISIS would come for it, but the Libyans successfully protected it. Past posts on Leptis Magna are here, here, and here.

For many posts on Palmyra, its history, the ancient Aramaic dialect spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, which more recently seem to have been trending for the better, start here and follow the links.

Cross-file unde Digitization, Technology Watch, Punic Watch, and Virtual Reality.

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Online lecture on the earliest Coptic books

VARIANT READINGS: Upcoming Talk on Coptic Books. Brent Nongbri is presenting the lecture tomorrow, 6 August, on Zoom. Follow the link for a poster with details.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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Rabbi Steinsaltz hospitalized

SENDING ALL GOOD WISHES AND STRENGTH: Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz hospitalized, in critical condition. The 83-year-old scholar, most famous for his translation of the Talmud, is battling a severe lung infection unrelated to the coronavirus (Aaron Reich, Jerusalem Post).

For background on Rabbi Steinsaltz, his health difficulties in recent years, and his work, especially his Hebrew and English translations of the Talmud, start here and follow the many links.

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Tu B'Av 2020

THE FESTIVAL OF TU B'AV began yesterday evening at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Tu B'Av (which just means the 15th day of the month of Av) is an ancient matchmaking festival. Its first mention is in the Mishnah (Ta’anit 4). It has been revived in recent years as a kind of Jewish Valentine's Day. For past posts on it, see here and links.

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Video reconstruction of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE

RITMEYER ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESIGN: The Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.

Belatedly for Tisha B'Av: Leen Ritmeyer notes a video produced by Megalim, The City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies in 2019. The graphics and production are pretty good. The YouTube link is here:

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Outdoor exhibit on ancient Ashkelon

EXHIBITION: New outdoor exhibit showcases rich history of ancient Ashkelon. Ashkelon has over 3,800 years of history (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Outdoor museum exhibitions are a good idea in the era of coronavirus. I noted another one recently here. Of course it helps if you have a warm, dry climate.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on ancient Askhelon and the Ashkelon excavation are here, here, here, here, here, here, and links. I was a staff member at the excavation in the mid-1980s.

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Enoch Seminar on John the Baptist

RELIGION PROF: Enoch Seminar Nangeroni Meeting on John the Baptist. James McGrath highlights another upcoming online Enoch Seminar event. It takes place in January of 2021. The last one was a success.

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Israelite and Persian Perspectives on Babylon’s Great Monuments (BASONOVA lecture)

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Israelite and Persian Perspectives on Babylon’s Great Monuments: The Tower of Babel and the Ishtar Gate. Notice of an online BASONOVA Lecture on the Ancient World by David Vanderhooft taking place on 5 August 2020. Follow the link for information on payment and reservations.

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4QGenk

THE ETC BLOG: 4QGenk: A Normalized Manuscript. Anthony Ferguson discusses a manuscript that I published many years ago in DJD 12. It's good to see it getting some attention.

I interpret the variant in verse 9 rather differently than he does. He thinks it a scribal grammatical correction. I think it is part of a longer reading also found in Greek in the Septuagint, a reading that may well be more original than that of the Masoretic Text.

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7th century CE shipwreck recovered near Haifa

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY: Christian, Muslim symbols found in 7th century shipwreck in Israel. Moreover, the ship also offers important insights in terms of ship construction techniques (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Past PaleoJudaica posts on marine (maritime, underwater) archaeology are here and links and here. And for some posts on the archaeology of shipwrecks specifically, see here and here and links.

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The Underwater Malta project

VIRTUAL MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY MEETS PHOENICIAN WATCH: Underwater Malta – The First Virtual Museum in the Mediterranean Showcasing 10 Underwater Archaeological Sites and Sunken Aircraft and Submarines Usually Seen Only by Divers (Press Release). The article highlights the aircraft and submarines, but also mentions something important in passing. One of the displays is the Phoenician shipwreck from near Gozo, on which more here and links.

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Flee Babylon!

READING ACTS: Come Out of Babylon! Revelation 18:4-8. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now on the final seven visions. We continue with the second vision in chapter 18. [Oops! Pardon me. Various errors in the above now corrected.]

For notice of previous posts in Phil's series on Revelation, see here and links.

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Book note: Orlov (ed.), Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism

FORBIDDEN GOSPELS BLOG: BOOK NOTE: JEWISH ROOTS OF EASTERN CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM (April DeConick). With some background to the book.

I noted the publication of the volume here.

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God and his horse?

ICONOGRAPHY: Face of God? Archaeologist claims to find 10th cent. BCE graven images of Yahweh. Hebrew U Prof. Yosef Garfinkel asserts small male figurines discovered at digs near Jerusalem are an image of the biblical God; other experts angrily dismiss theory (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

This discussion is outside PaleoJudaica's usual range, but I thought it good to mention it. It is also outside my range of expertise. I have no opinion on it. If you read to the end of the article, you can see some of the arguments pro and con for what might show the figurines to be images of a god.

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Free ASOR books

THE AWOL BLOG: Some More ASOR Books Available Open Access. The list includes some older classic volumes, some more recent ones, and many of interest for study of ancient Judaism. For you, special deal!

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Biblical Studies Carnival 173

THE DUST BLOG: Biblical Studies Carnival for July 2020. Biblical Studies Carnival # 173, An odd, deficient, odious, but balanced prime.* July 2020. (Bob Macdonald).

Also, over at Reading Acts, Phil Long has some additional news items from the Biblioblogosphere.

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